William Tyler
Martin Luther Changes the Future
Summary
Some say the fall of Rome in Western Europe came in the 16th century with the division of Christianity between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, which itself then fractured into many different sects.
In Germany the catholic friar, Martin Luther first introduced Protestantism in 1517. A second Protestant leader who proved influential in Germany was Jean Calvin. Both men gave their names to their Protestant movements- Lutheranism and Calvinism. Today 34.5% of Germans claim to be Protestant, and 32.2% Catholic.
The Thirty Years War racked much of Northern and Central Europe with Germany at the epicentre. It has been estimated that the war ended in the loss of 4.5-12 million European lives out of a population of 75 million.
These two centuries had an impact on future German history, not least around the question of Unification in 1871. Luther’s antisemitism also had an impact on later Nazi antisemitism.
William Tyler
William Tyler has spent his entire professional life in adult education, beginning at Kingsgate College in 1969. He has lectured widely for many public bodies, including the University of Cambridge and the WEA, in addition to speaking to many clubs and societies. In 2009, William was awarded the MBE for services to adult education, and he has previously been a scholar in residence at the London Jewish Cultural Centre.
I think yes, you’re right. Whether that did affect it, but I do think health probably played a role as he got older, I agree with that. Oh no, no. I’ve set you all off on humorous things.
Yes, well, he believed that all Jews should convert to Christianity. He thought it would be an easy task to convert them to his form of Christianity and when they didn’t convert, then his anti-Semitism becomes worse, absolutely.
Oh, Calvinism believes, very quickly, Calvinism believes in predestination. What is to be, God has already decided and you can’t change it. Lutheranism says that you must seek your way to God through faith, and you demonstrate your faith by doing good works. Calvinism believes everything’s predestined, I’m not a theologian and a lot of theology is very conflicting and doesn’t always make logical sense.